The last pieces are falling into place to make way for the much-anticipated reopening of the Heisley Road bridge over Route 2 in Mentor.
The work to replace the 52-year-old bridge deck has been under way for most of 2013 and may finish slightly ahead of schedule, officials say.
Heisley Road has been closed to southbound traffic over Route 2 and travelers detoured since January.
“Hopefully, it will be done by the end of this month,” Mentor Engineer Dave Swiger said, cautioning that crews have until Oct. 15 to complete the work.
Minimal weather delays have helped keep construction moving in a timely manner, said Amanda Lee, public information officer for the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 12.
Final pavement markings are scheduled to be placed this week, weather-dependent, and crews must also complete traffic signal modifications before the bridge can reopen, she said.
“The bridge could open one to two weeks sooner than originally anticipated,” she said, adding that no new date has been set.
The initial plan was to maintain two-way traffic during construction, but a detour was decided upon after city officials expressed concern about the large number of northbound motorists using the bridge to get to Route 2 west.
The work — raising the height of the bridge over Route 2, and replacing the parapet walls and fence — is being done by J.D. Williamson Construction Co. of Tallmadge at a bid amount of $1.7 million.
The contractor had wanted to start the week of Nov. 19 last year. However, Mentor officials asked ODOT to postpone the work until holiday shopping traffic subsided.
It was the second time the project was put off. The first delay was initiated by ODOT, after reconstruction of the Route 2-Route 615 interchange was pushed back and would have coincided with the bridge job. The Heisley work is unrelated to ODOT’s Route 2 modernization and lane addition project.
Average daily traffic for Heisley Road is 21,390 vehicles.